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MMA NEWS -Fedor Emelianenko: "I have a desire to compete in the UFC"

“I compete on international level, in MMA and Combat Sambo and I represent my country. And I think there can’t be better stimulus. It’s about titles. Of course I would like in UFC too, but to this day, all the times we had negotiations with them.. possibly they have allergy on me (laughs), and for some reason we can’t make an agreement now. Vadim met them, but for example if we had some agreement in talk, the contract that they sent then were different. But I have a desire to compete in UFC.”

The Last Emperor, Fedor Emelianenko, in a recent interview with Russian media outlet, news.sportbox.ru, discusses his desire to remain active on the international fighting circuit, including becoming a UFC fighter.

Chances are pretty good that the UFC would take the Russian import, however, negotiations will also be a sticking point with the Las Vegas based promotion and the M-1 Global management just can’t seem to get that through their head.

At this point in time, the UFC no longer needs Fedor, in fact, they never did. So, aspirations or not, it may be too little too late…

yeah, but he didn’t just lose one fight or something… he lost three in a row, decisively. stopped 3 times. GSP (and i HATE gsp) loses one and goes on to win again. never dropped consecutive fights. same with anderson. JDS hasn’t lost yet in the UFC (and he fought some big names and good fighters). when he was in contract negotiations with the UFC he was all hype and got exposed shortly after. thats a fact.

I think he has just been competing in the wrong division. The heavyweight division is too much for him now and maybe he can find success at 205. The 1st loss was carelessness, the 2nd was him being overwhelmed by a guy twice his size(again, lower weight division may be key), and in the 3rd he just got caught. I wouldn’t compare it to GSP, Anderson, or JDS since they’re all in their proper weight classes(with Anderson having the ability to go up).

I guess the stupid fedor fans will never stop making excuses for this guy it’s hilarious how this guy said the UFC will regret not signing him and all that but now that got exposed he comes crawling back asking for contract negotiations oh karma is a real bitch isn’t it

While, I think his best days are behind him, I would like to see him back in the UFC. M1 needs to understand that the UFC will not do a co-promotion with them. It just does not make any sense.

MMA has evolved so much that right now he would not be a top contender. However, bringing him back would be intriguing. The UFC should bring him back to allow him to salvage his legacy, by avenging his last three losses. If he were to beat Werdum, Big Foot and Henderson, which I think he can, then, retire!!! He could not handle any of the top HW, and he definitely could not handle Jon Jones.

Wand lost multiple times in a row. Chuck lost like 6 times in a row. Just Bcuz he lost don’t mean shit. I don’t think fedor could hold a belt in the UFC but he would be a contender. If fedor fought werdum or hendo again there’s a good chance the out come would be different. Especially against werdum. Silva is just too big tho. The better fighter doesn’t always win. The better fighter that night wins. Bj penn got his ass kicked by Frankie two times and nick Diaz beat his ass. I’m not even counting the Fitch fight. But point is loosing a couple fights doesnt make you a horrible fighter. I don’t hear everyone talking shit sayin Bj has only fought cans. His last two wins were too Matt Hughes ( grandpa) and Diego Sanchez ( not even a contender) so stfu you hatin ass bitchs.

he got ktfo by a light heavy weight… shogun can take a better punch than fedor. hendo hit shogun with way more than what he hit fedor with. why does he deserve a shot in the UFC?! werdum got smashed by the UFC champ in JDS’s first UFC fight. fedor is all hype. should’ve crossed over when he had the chance. now he should go the kimbo route and go on TUF to get in the UFC.

Fedor is one of the greatest ever and he should be fighting the best in the world. It’s never been an issue between Fedor and the UFC, it’s always been an issue with the UFC and M-1. If M-1 can stop being greedy by insisting on co promoting any UFC event that includes Fedor on the card then and contract will be signed. The UFC will pay Fedor almost as much as GSP and Brock because of his drawing power but M-1 has to take a back seat and stop insisting on the whole co promoting thing.

I understand what M-1 is trying to do, they want MMA to be like boxing where fighters are signed to certain promotions and when 2 fighters from different promotions are set to fight, the 2 promotions co promote. The UFC is smart in not doing this since they are the only major MMA promotions so all the draw would be because of the hard work they’ve put in over the years (not to mention the hundreds of millions of debt). The UFC has done all the legwork to get the best fighters and have the best shows out there for the fans. Why should they split their earnings with promotions that havent done the same? If you want to look at co promoting just look at how well it’s worked out between Floyd and Manny’s companies, boxing is a mess. The UFC has all the best guy under one banner which means we as fans see the best matchups.

Fedor is one of the best ever and I hope he and the UFC can come to an agreement thats fair to both sides. I don’t think Fedor would be able to clean out the HW division but he would have a ton of success in the UFC because he still has some skill. I say it all the time that Fedor would be a beast at LHW but it will never happen.

idk man… fedor got exposed in his last 4 fights. he beat a bunch of no bodies and has-beens. then got taken off by werdum (released by the UFC), big foot (up and comer) and hendo (a light heavy weight). I wouldn’t call that best ever. he hasn’t fought the best when they were their best. only guy he fought that you could say was one of the best at the time was hendo, and he competes at a weight-class below fedor.

i know the issues were w/M-1… but if fedor really wanted to fight the best, he would’ve been in the UFC for sure. if he wanted to fight the top guys in the top organization he would’ve told his management team to make it happen. but he didn’t. maybe he took an easy payday or whatever, but he didn’t do what was best for his career as far as putting himself in a position to fight the best guys. i don’t think it was all M-1. some of its gotta go on fedor. look at overeem… he told his management to f off and jumped to the UFC b/c he does want to fight the best, not just saying it.

I guess I’m just one of those fans who hold on to the Fedor of Pride memories. You’re right, Fedor hasn’t fought anyone since 2005 and when he did fight mediocre quality guys in SF he choked. I view Fedor as one of the best ever because of what he did during his Pride run. He was only the HW champ of Pride and he made a couple of defenses against guys like Minotauro and Cro Cop. But you may be right on in saying Fedor is past is prime, IDK I’d like to see him fight in the UFC anyways.

BTW, Hendo’s naturaly weight class is 185 since he walks at around 200. Fedor got beat by a MW fighter.

BJ fan, BJ Penn has been exposed how many times lately? He is a legend and one of the greatest LWs to ever grace MMA. He has been on a similar run to Fedor, but I don’t hear many people questioning his legacy. Maybe Fedor has declined. After Pride though, he did destroy 2 ex UFC champs in Sylvia and Arlovski but the competition since has been sub par and maybe took the edge off his game. He is the greatest HW in history to date and his best days probably are behind him, but any old school MMA fan knows what a brilliant fighter he is. He was a chubby undersize HW that used to smash roid freaks and giants alike and went on one of the best unbeaten streaks in MMA history.

Of course MMA has evolved with time and not many fighters evolve equally with new blood taking MMA to a new level, but in the context of one generation to the next, Fedor was and still is the greatest HW MMA has ever seen. Maybe in years to come others will have outdone his achievements, but we will have to wait and see.

Pls, why do people bring up Fedors Pride days…He fought 2 good fighters, Cro-Cop and Mino..Thats all…He fights no name guys or fighters that are X-Champs and cut by the UFC because they where on their last leg.

BJP has lost some fights in a row, but he lost to tough fighters and current champs, not X-Champs or washed up champs.

Fedor is not the greatest HW ever, dont think we really have a greatest HW ever yet in the sport. Any of the top 6 HWs in the UFC would smash Fedor.
JDS
Cain V
Brock
Mir
Carwin
Overreem would all beat Fedor hands down.

he killed monson! he put him down a bunch of times. had him bleeding all over the place. yes he got beat by a light heavy wieght (hendo) guess what hendo is probly gonna get a shot at the title. he tough as hell. theres no way fedor should not be fighting in the ufc.

no, fedor will never be in the UFC b/c he doesn’t deserve to be there. his one a 1 fight win streak, with a boring decision over a not so great fighter. lost 3 of his last 4 decisively. he’ll never be in the UFC b/c he is not top competition. all hype.

Fedor is one of the greatest HW of all time. He could clean up the HW division in the UFC. The only roadblocks would be the “Reem” & maybe Brock due to his size. As far as Fedor losing 3 in a row, that can happen to anyone. Everyone can be defeated. All it takes is one mistake at that level. Look at Brock. Brock has no skill, but wrestling & inhuman strength. The “Reem is going to crush Brock. But anyways, Pride was a better organization than the UFC. They had better rules & Fedor ruled Pride. You could say GSP & Silva have not fought anyone, also.

i always thought he was over rated, yet people would defend him to the death, now that he’s coming off a very lame win, and 3 stoppage losses, everyone hates him. i still think he was all hype but shit guys stop jumping band wagon like its musical chairs. now, onto him wanting to fight in the UFC, he might be able to do things if he drops to 205 and starts to train in the U.S. with legitimate camps; only then he could make something happen before hes too old to compete.

I don’t believe that Fedor is irrelevant. I do believe that he must evolve his training. He has been in some great battles with many great fighters who were at their peak. I believe that he was successful at Heavyweight in Pride and never even thought about cutting weight to make 205. I believe if his camp evolved to a more American mindset of conditioning and cutting weight that he could be competitive there. I have a feeling that he does not like to be away from home for extended periods of time, but he would probably get pretty good results from a training vacation in the States, maybe Xtreme Couture, Team Quest, Greg Jackson, etc? He would have to start at the bottom and work his way up through the division though.

fedor doesnt deserve to be in the ufc? hahaha bullshit, nogueira was undefeated at the time fedor came and destroy him in his own game, he destroy him twice!! he didnt lose any fight in 10 years!! now he losses 3 fights, and he doesnt deserve to be in the ufc, thats is just garbage coming out of your mount,, the fight he had with hendo was a early stopped and we all know that!!, fucking herb dean!, idk if fedor still the best but he is on the top 5 for sure!!

Fedor ruled the mma world for 10 long years fought eveyr body put in front of him . Ufc bought strike force out this is the reason he wants to fight here now.
Look how he lost his last 3 fight just got caught by arm bar got monted bt silva who is a giant and could sit on any1 ..and Last dan henderson who could KO any 1 if he connects on there jaw .weather it be dos santos cain velasques or any fighter
Fedor would do good in the UFC ..never write a legend off

Ok. Just one quick question. Can you show me a guy in ANY weight division that has been undefieted for so many years ? I DONT THINK SO ! He fought best at the time in Pride . And I asure You he will fight in UFC . Just as Brock he got fans that want to see him win and a haters that want to see him get his butt wooped . Its a sold out event either way . DANA GOT HIS MONEY , FEDOR IS STILL FIGHTING AND FANS GOT FIGHTS THEY WANT TO SEE ! AND WE ARE ALL HAPPY

Love when people say Fedor faught no competition and the UFC had the best fighters. While this was going on Brock was CHAMP,, mma record 4-1 lol,, the you had Carwin,10-0, Cain at 7-0, Dos Santos at 7-0 while these UFC guys had faught NOONE at that time. Keep believing the UFC Hype they give you

Fedor was great. Perhaps he’s still good. But using his Pride days to argue that he should be signed by the UFC makes no sense. What someone has done in the past should not have much bearing if they are no longer at that level. You wouldnt sign Ken Shamrock to the UFC today would you?

Fedor fought some great fighters and not so great fighters. I don’t think he’s the greatest ever but I would be willing to put him in my top 5ish. I would be interested in seeing him compete in the 205 division for sure. Imagine a Fedor v Rampage fight in Japan. I just don’t see him being worth the money you need to pay him fighting at HW.

Everyone keeps saying Fedor hasn’t beat any good guys , but he dominated in the early 2000 ..people are comparing then and now ..who else does he have to beat back then to still b recognized when he beat everyone they put in front of him…people stop being hates

If he wins a couple and will fight for cheap then bring him in. I still think he is better than guys like Strouve and maybe even Kongo. Would he beat the top guys? Probably not, but there is a lot of interesting fights for him and he makes money. You guys are crazy if you think Dana would never ever bring someone into the UFC, if theres money there he will consider it.

you noobs don’t no shit, fedor is the goat. so what if he lost to henderson who is smaller. anderson lost twice to lighwieghts. gsp lost to a lightwieght. fedor might not be the same as he was, but too bad for you noobs, you never got to see his greatness.

G damn..the lack of mma knowledge from aholes who think they know what their talking about just because they tune in to UFC is retarded on here. The same aholes who say Fedor fought nobody’s still claim Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez are top 5 even tho THEY’VE fought a buncha nobodies. The problem with you jokes is that your too stupid to see that the Gdamn UFC hype is just that…HYPE! Up until UFC acquired Strikeforce, UFC had a SHITTY heavyweight division. Cain Velasquez (for example who just lost the hw belt) has only beaten LESnar (who’s a freak, a publicity stunt, and a spoonfed bred EX champion,) and he beat a washed up NOG. (Who Fedor destroyed in his prime)…yet you think he’s legit right? What about Lesnar-he loses to Mir then beats Mir (that makes them even at this point), he beats a washed up Couture, and Carwin (and only because Carwin ran out of gas, and CARWIN was kicking his ass and thats cuz Carwin SUX AS WELL!) JDS I have no problems with being top 3 but these other more publicized fighters suck. Fedor crushed cans…true. But he also crushed an ex pride hw champion in Noguira TWICE. At his own game…He destroyed CroCop at his own game when CroCop was considered the most dangerous fighter. He beat Coleman, Arvloski, Sylvia (yea yea i know they are jokes…but you same guys were all over they’re nuts when they were champs in the UFC) Brett Rogers was considered a top prospect before Fedor knocked his ass out. I’m hearing news that their might be a possible Fedor-Werdum rematch in 2012…I guarantee you Fedor wins that rematch. Whats the difference between the records of Velasquez and Fedor?? Fedor has fought just as many credible opponents as Cain has…it’s easy to talk shit about a fighter who’s in a slump..Brock Lesnar 5-2 and a top 5 fighter….WHAT A JOKE! And you idiots believe that hype. Go learn something.

Well put, fedor is one of the greatest love him or hate him.I bet all these people talking shit on the man are the same ones that cheer for fucks like vagina faber. Yeah dana + stupid fans=got a stick up their ass. Hype= its called dana.Some of the dumbest fucks out there=most Ufc fans. The one who would shut u all the fuck up without blinking more than once=FEDOR EMELIANENEKO!!!!! Now go study some tape thats not labeled UFC u ignorant fucks

dont be stupid. the ufc would certainly take him, he would make them a lot of money even on the undercard because of his hardcore following. but he would get a shit contract now. imma huge fedor fan but he, or his management or whoever you want to blame it on really did fuck up his chances of a succesful ufc career.

Fedor and Finkelstein made their own bed so they just need to lie in it. They had their chance, Finkelstein RUINED Fedor’s career it’s just a shame Fedor didn’t see that before it was too late because it’s CLEAR MMA has passed him by. Bad decisions have put Fedor’s career in the place it is now and he just has to accept it. He was offered a SHITLOAD of money AND an imidiete title shot against Brock and he didn’t take it.

It’s a shame, Fedor could have had a successful career in the UFC and could have been VERY rich, I guess hell have to settle for being an owner in M1 Global because that’s ALL he got from the Finkelstein/M1 Global partnership.

to all the fedor haters……
fedor also didnt need the ufc…when you guys talk shit about fedor, you talk shit about noguiera, crocop,hieth herring, nogueira beat good fighters, coture, schaub,hieth beat chieck kongo, big nog is jds teacher in bjj…the fact is, that all top champs,jds, cain,coture,nog,brock,carwin frank mir, bj penn,gsp, hendo,overeem,rampage,shogun, jones bones, and many more have stated that he is a great fight,some looked up to him,
most of the fans arnt fighters, they dont know what it means to fight.
ask yourselves this, would jds take fedor lightly if they were to fight? u fuckin gooofs….losers,, everyone talks about how he lost three times,,,,
werdum beat him fair and square,,, silva didnt finish him, neither did hendo… b4 the bell rang fedor attempted a leg lock,tell me, how many times did u think the fight was going to be stopped against silva, i thought three times, but he didnt give up, thats heart, not to many people got it,,,,, the hendo fight was a early stoppage for that type of high caliber fight,,,,check pat berry vs chiek kongo, that fight should have stopped 2 times,
nobody brings a fight like fedor, brock tried with cain and found out its not the way,,,im not saying fedor is the best pound for pound or the best right now…but for peeps to say that he sucks, and all that related stuff is rettiieeeee…..every dog has his day. he should be counted out….he still is dangerous,,,in his prime, he was a machine, and knowone in there prime would take him, everone thinks they are don king, 34 and 3 and he sucks..does anyone have that record in the ufc with x heavyweight champs…give the guy a break, i respect all fighters, winners and losers, does cain suck if he looses his next fight? jsd has lost, carwin, brock, mir… they are all great fighters… fedor was undifeated 10 years,he has fought 11 ufc fighter and lost to two.8 of those were ufc champs and sum are and will be in the ufc hallafame…,,,and if u know physics, fighting a guy bigger than u has a disadvantage and an advantage,,,, and one more thing, dana likes fedor, how can he not, he likes crocop,big nog,herring, dana likes fighters who scrap it out, commit to fighting, are fearless…tell me someone who brings a fight like fedor, i have seen the fertita bothers watching fedors fights in pride events,,ask urselves y?
i wanna see fedor vs schaub or mir,or even struve,,,,

revs99, thanks for the short story. oh and since ur a newbie, hendo did finish fedor. maybe u should brush up on ur mma before u jump on here and make a complete ass of urself. so tell me, who has fedor defeated?? ………still waiting

Who has Fedor defeated??? How about a consecutive 34 people dipshit. Anyone who says Fedor sucks(and i consider this nothing less than fact) is either retarded or just started watching mma last year..Do us all a favor and die in a fire you fucking ass clown.

Umm try Antonio Noguera…twice…in the prime of his career…He is not the best HW…but I promise you his speed, his punch…And think about who he lost to…Silve is a Giant…he lost due to size differential more than anything…Henderson…one of the greatest fighters ever…and the best BJJ practitioner and BJJ 3 time world champion in Werdum….Werdum lost to Dos Santos through his power…Fedor got caught in a submission thinking his opponent was done…was a great ploy and tactic by Verdum to get him in his guard…..And Henderson was almost out…Bottom line he is not a bad fighter…I meen Bisbing…Forrest …Leban…they are bad fighters but they are in the UFC…ad some depth to the division..Oh and Fedor is not on Steroids like 90 percent of the other fighters…I meen who truely gets that big wout drugs?

man, so many haters on here! Bring Fedor to the UFC, put him against non-top 10 guys and see how he fares–I, for one, would love to see Fedor/Big Country, Fedor/Kongo, Fedor/Barry, Fedor/Struve, Fedor/Cro-Cop–pay him like a non-top 10 guy–but “all hype”?, you’re out of your mind if you think nearly 10 years undefeated then losing 3 in a row makes someone “all hype” Is Chuck all hype? Is Wanderlei all hype? Bonner? gimme a break

When someone can stay undefeated for 10 years you know that person has to be something special in the mma world hands down. What gets me is the experts who shit on Fedor because he lost 3 in a row saying he don’t belong in the sh*tty UFC or he was never good enough to fight in it.HAHAHA!!! To all those who feel that way all i can recommend is to remove your lips from danas whole,start breathing fresh air and only then you will make a wise decision.

Fedor is the greatest heavyweight and the best mma fighter ever, his record speaks by itself. The problem with Fedor has been his lack of motivation after dominating everyone, i think he is very motivated now and i think he has vicious kicks now… a motivated Fedor would be champ in the UFC.
Fedor Emelianenko next UFC heavyweight champ !!!!!!!!!!!

Name a fighter Fedor has beat…Okkkkkk…..If im correct.. he has fought Coleman, Randleman,Hendo, Herring,Schilt, Sylvia, Arlovski, Nog(twice), Lindland, Renato,Mirko…so of all those fighters…ALL fighting in the UFC..he has BEAT EVERY one of them except one…and he beat them all in their prime…and if im right..he really just straight whipped the hell outta all of them. Not to mention he’s fought Mark Hunt and Goodridge…both AMAZING fighters back in the day….and im just saying if you say he fought nobodies…he fought sylvia 6 months after he lost to Nog for the TITLE..so you cant say his career ended and he went to s*** in six months.Ill give the arguement that he fought a few guys smaller then him, but its a well known fact that he walks around at 220 lbs which isnt that big of a diff when your fighting at 200 +.

Many of the current heavyweights walk into the ring at 280+. 60lbs heavier than Fedor. It has been a long time since I have seen a good UFC heavyweight fight. I think Dos Santos and Jon Jones are the real deal. Some of the rest…..well…….lets I’ll call it the freak show!

Just because some one is the GOAT does not mean that they can stay that way. That is like saying Ali can beat Klitschko just because many people think he was the greatest. Appreciate what he has done but don’t think he has the desire to do what it takes to win in MMA today.

M-1 and Fedor are not two different entities. Fedor owns part of M-1, he also kept them as his management team for all this time. It is naive (to put it politely) to think that M-1 is spoiling a potential deal with UFC but Fedor is willing to compete with anyone anytime.

dislike the last sentence in this article. sure the ufc doesnt need fedor but with that logic who do they really need? ufc needs fighters. fedor is a top fighter who lost fights he was winning in until he lost. he can still make a run in the ufc if given the opportunity. put him against struve barry or kongo and test where hes at. i say he can beat all three of those guys. theres not that much top talent in the ufc hw division. fedor can easily make his way up the ranks, regardless of what any writer thinks.

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